In the Land of Women

Directed by: Jonathan Kasdan

Starring: Adam Brody, Meg Ryan, Kristen Stewart, Makenzie Vega, Olympia Dukakis, Elena Anaya

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Run time: 97 min

Rated: PG-13

Rating: 1 1/2 out of 4 Gus Heads

According to writer/director Jonathan Kasdan, the land of women is inhabited exclusively by clich�, archetypal characters, maudlin contrivances of love and loss and interminable, seemingly endless dialogue. Or at least that’s the best one can glean from viewing Kasdan’s debut film of the same name.

“In the Land of Women,”, it isn’t so much a bad film as it is a wholly self-indulgent and relatively trivial one. Mining the “quarter-life crisis” theme from such better films as “The Graduate” and “Garden State,” Kasdan packs the film with themes of heartbreak, bravery, courage and death, but rarely moves beyond the overly sentimental and the mundane. Despite decent performances from an ensemble cast, “In the Land of Women” rarely ventures beyond predictable plot contrivances and a series of tear-jerking revelations.

Carter Webb (Adam Brody) is a struggling screenwriter living in Los Angeles. Webb longs to break into the Hollywood mainstream, but his career stalls and Webb is left writing “premium soft-core erotica” for basic cable. When Webb’s girlfriend Sophia (Elena Anaya) gives him the boot, he decides to retreat to suburban Michigan to regroup while caring for his ill-tempered, senile grandmother Phyllis (Olympia Dukakis).

Just as Webb settles into a quiet, contemplative existence in Michigan, he meets the Hardwicke family: WASPy, self-doubting middle-aged Sara (Meg Ryan), angst-riddled teenager Lucy (Kristen Stewart) and precocious sage Paige (Makenzie Vega). Webb crafts an intimate bond with all three women, all while advising Sara on her troubled marriage and coaching Lucy through the tribulation of adolescent relationships.

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If all of that sounds a little too schmaltzy, it certainly comes off exactly that way onscreen. The story is made even more awkward by the fact that Webb creates what would otherwise lead to romantic relationships with these women, but is clearly too young for the married Sara and too old for her eldest daughter. Kasdan could easily delve into “Graduate” or “Lolita” territory in either scenario, but focuses instead on a string of drawn-out conversations, pained monologues and exasperating exposition.

It is clear Kasdan wants audiences to empathize with his protagonist, but Webb often comes off as little more than a jerk who is abusive and neglectful to his grandmother while adding unnecessary confusion to the lives of an ailing mother and her teenage daughter. The film, while filled with comforting dialogue, a feel-good message and decent performances from Brody and Ryan, is often filled with conflicting and incongruent ideas.

Women in the audience will surely eat it all up happily, but that’s most likely where the film’s appeal will end.

If Kasdan intended to provide some sort of window into the female psyche or pathology with “In the Land of Women,” he’s certainly succeeded in creating a place no man would ever want to visit.